Donahue Happy With a Few New Wrinkles

Let’s begin by praising the people who made Saturday’s 24-20 upset of USC possible for Terry Donahue, whose 20-year career running UCLA’s football program could be coming to an end, if indeed it is true that he is about to give up coaching to become a television commentator for CBS.

I’m sure Terry would appreciate that. After an emotional experience such as this one, with the coach sitting there looking younger than ever in his George Clooney haircut but waxing nostalgic about how this victory finally “validated” him as a good coach, Donahue’s top priority would still be giving credit where credit’s due.

He would want someone to acknowledge all the work that went into this, the creativity and imagination that made this one of his most enjoyable games, ever.

There was that inspiration at practice when Norm Andersen, who coaches UCLA’s receivers, took a moment of Donahue’s time to mention the throwing ability of Jim McElroy IV, a sophomore wide receiver, 152 pounds dripping wet, who happens to be blessed with a tremendously strong arm. That little tip turned into a 35-yard touchdown pass in Saturday’s game from McElroy to Kevin Jordan that put UCLA on top, 21-0.

There was the true grit of true freshman Cade McNown, the quarterback who came to play. When McNown ran 21 yards on a third-and-13 call in game’s final minute, Donahue’s reaction?

“Holy mackerel!” the coach exclaimed. “I passed out!”

So many others played a part. Chris Sailer, booming punts an average of 54.5 yards. Donnie Edwards, making a dozen unassisted tackles. Travis Kirschke, with a huge quarterback sack. Tommy Bennett and Danjuan Magee, forcing fumbles. James Milliner and Derek Ayers, running their hearts out. Karim Abdul-Jabbar, injured but volunteering to act as a decoy.

“He’s a real war daddy,” Donahue said of Abdul-Jabbar, not your typical coach’s compliment.

Also, there were the observations of Bob Toledo, the offensive coordinator, who came up with what Donahue called a magnificent plan, spotting “things we felt we could exploit with USC’s defense, from a formation standpoint,” as the head coach put it.

Proving a willingness to listen and adjust, even at this late date, Donahue agreed to line up UCLA’s quarterback in a shotgun formation, a new wrinkle for this big game. He and Toledo also took a defensive back, freshman Akil Davis, and put him in place of Abdul-Jabbar in the backfield. Disguising it to make it resemble a passing formation, they ran the ball inside the end, rather than around. On one such call, Davis broke off a 26-yard run.

Donahue was in such a mellow mood that after this, the 11th game of the season, he admitted having “misused” Davis all season long, on defense rather than offense.

If he was feeling a little misty, it was understandable. This had been such a peculiar season, one that began and ended with successes against two of the giants of college football, Miami and USC, yet in many other ways had been a disappointment. Yet here the coach was, savoring another conquest of “Southern Cal,” as Donahue actually called it.

Callers bugged him all morning, before the game, wondering whether it was true that retirement was near. “Rumors were rampant,” in Donahue’s words.

His players suspected something was up. At a team meeting, when Donahue went from player to player asking what their plans were for after the season, one of them finally spoke up and said: “Forget that, coach. What’s your plans?”

Not quite ready to reveal them, Donahue couldn’t promise each Bruin that he would be seeing them, same time next year. After the game, UCLA’s outstanding offensive lineman, Jonathan Ogden, spoke of how Donahue had told his players before the USC kickoff to “go out there, give it your all, show what kind of football we can play here, prove it to everybody in L.A.”

Once they had done precisely that, Donahue himself gave a heartfelt, though vaguely Nixon-esque, speech about how meaningful Saturday’s game was to him, how his wife and daughters had gotten him through the pain of two consecutive defeats, how after defeating USC: “I might not act like it, but I’m absolutely beside myself. It finally validates me as a coach in this city.”

It was a reflective time for Terry Donahue, a real war daddy. But until he could confirm whatever he will be doing next, the people around him were the ones he felt deserved to be complimented most.

“And, on that note,” the coach said, “I think I’ll go join them now. I’m going to party.”